Vandals break 13 windows at Takoma Park adult daycare center

TAKOMA PARK, Md. - Authorities are searching for three teens they say used rocks to bust out over a dozen windows at a Takoma Park adult daycare center as cases of vandalism across Montgomery County seem to be on the rise.

Officers say it happened Wednesday just after 10:45 a.m. at the Washington-McLaughlin Adult Daycare Center in the 6500 block of Poplar Avenue.

FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan spoke with the founder of the center who told her the vandals committed the crime in broad daylight.

Dr. Pauline Washington said it wasn’t the first time the building has been vandalized. Now she says senior citizens who live here are scared and want to leave.

"The seniors were in the room when they threw the brick through the glass, seniors were sitting there and that upset them and many of them were ready to go home," Washington said.

She says she can’t blame the residents for feeling uneasy and unsafe. Washington said vandals have broken into the building on numerous occasions, mostly at night time.

"In November of last year they actually broke into the apartments. They came through a basement door came up to the firer floor and just ransacked them office," Washington said.

Wednesday morning’s incident with the broken windows is just one more reason that she and her residents are on edge, said Washington.

Not only that, the ongoing repairs are costing her a lot of money. "It’s a very scary situation because we don’t know what they are going to do."

"I know they are not bad or evil, they just have nothing to do and therefore we need more programs to keep them out of trouble so they can be involved in something constructive and not destroying and costing the business owners," she said.

Police say 13 windows were broken in all. Investigators say that the suspects were described as three white teenage males wearing all dark clothing. They fled toward Woodland Avenue after being spotted by staff.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 301-270-1100.